jonesing for... » seafood http://www.jonesing-for.com Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:48:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 kansas city in the fall http://www.jonesing-for.com/2009/10/kansas-city-in-the-fall/ http://www.jonesing-for.com/2009/10/kansas-city-in-the-fall/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:04:17 +0000 Jessica J. http://www.jonesing-for.com/?p=729 Apple fritter and hot cider. by you.

This past weekend I went home to celebrate my mother’s birthday and have a mini vacation to celebrate autumn in Kansas City, one of my favorite things in the entire world.  I went to the Andy Warhol exhibit at Union Station, Pierpont’s for lunch, the KC Renaissance Festival (in full garb as my sisters and I used to work there), Vaughn’s Apple Orchard, Weston Red Barn Farm, and made butternut squash soup plus baked apples with vanilla ice cream for dessert. A whirlwind weekend, but perfect from beginning to end.

Warhol exhibit at Union Station by you.
Warhol.
Cioppino at Pierpont's by you.
Cioppino at Pierpont’s – very, very good.

My very best friends. by you.
Huzzah! KC Ren Fest with sisters.
Digging in. by you.
Turkey leg devouring.
Reflection. by you.
Deep reflection.
And swiss steak made in the crock pot, of course. by you.
Warming up with crock pot swiss steak and plenty of red wine.
Peeking in. by you.
Vaughn’s Apple Orchard.
Caramel apples. by you.
Candy apples.
My favorite smell in the entire world. by you.
In Harry Potter, the most powerful love spell in the entire world  (amortentia) smells differently to everyone, based on their favorite scents. The smell that comes from this tiny food shack at Vaughn’s is my to-die-for favorite smell ever.  Applewood smoke, frying fritters and cider. Just beyond perfection.
Notice how kraut comes with the hot Polish. by you.
Apple fritter and hot cider. by you.
Fritter and scalding hot cider.
Apple slushie. I couldn't care less it was only 35 degrees out. by you.
Apple slush. I couldn’t care less it was only 35 degrees out.
Double fisting slush and cider. by you.
Double fisting hot cider then cold slush. It worked perfectly!
Autumn. by you.
Autumn at Weston Red Barn Farm.
Fox. by you.
My nephew Fox, exploring.
Like apple pie, without the crust. A la mode. by you.
Like apple pie a la mode without the crust. Dessert for butternut squash soup.

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]]> http://www.jonesing-for.com/2009/10/kansas-city-in-the-fall/feed/ 0 a small selection of south carolina pictures http://www.jonesing-for.com/2009/07/a-small-selection-of-south-carolina-pictures/ http://www.jonesing-for.com/2009/07/a-small-selection-of-south-carolina-pictures/#comments Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:03:29 +0000 Jessica J. http://www.jonesing-for.com/?p=474 carolina sunset. by you.

So yesterday I got back from my fun little vacation to Charleston, SC. What a gorgeous place, inside and out. Just beautiful architecture, flora, people and food. Something I kept remarking on was how good the entire city smelled.  Like flowers and breakfast breads and salty air.  We had a ton of fun visiting some truly remarkable houses and sites, walking the city, eating lots of great seafood and just relaxing.  Here’s a (very) small selection of the photos I took – mostly the food since, well, that’s always my favorite part anyway.

crab salute. by you.
relaxed seating at the airport. by you.
Relaxed seating at the airport.

raw bar. by you.

charleston. by you.
charleston. by you.
mont royal (aka boone hall). by you.
mont royal flowers. by you.
mont royal flowers. by you.
mont royal oak and moss. by you.
moonpie! by you.
raw bar. by you.
a.w. shucks for an afternoon snack. by you.
oysters on the half-shell. by you.
oysters on the half-shell. by you.
empty shells. by you.
menu peeking at virginia's on king st. by you.
Virginia’s on King for some southern comfort food.
she-crab soup (the specialty of the SC lowcountry). by you.
She-crab soup, the specialty of the SC lowcountry.  Like a crab bisque with sherry and so delicious.
country fried steak, grits, mac n cheese. not pictured: incredible blue cheese coleslaw. by you.
Country fried steak with red-eye gravy, grits and mac ‘n cheese.  Not pictured: incredible blue cheese coleslaw.
crab salute. by you.
they automatically give you a bottomless hush puppy basket. far superior to a bread basket. by you.
Hush puppy basket instead of a bread basket.  So much love.
seafood: yes, please. by you.
big seafood boil. by you.
Rach and I share a big ol’ seafood boil.
i took a painfully long time getting every morsel of crab out. by you.
I take an obnoxiously long time to pick out every morsel of crab meat.
crab legs defeated. by you.
Crab legs defeated.
decimated. by you.
empty shells. by you.
Happily decimated.
i hate bourbon, but mint juleps are so popular in N&S I had to try it. by you.
My first mint julep.  I only ordered one because they’re so popular in “North and South” and figured I would hate it since I’m not a fan of bourbon.
"rach, take a picutre of me as I try it to get my genuine reaction!" by you.
“Rach, take a picture of me as I try it to get my genuine reaction!”
"oh hey it's not that bad!" by you.
“Oh hey, it’s not that bad!”

Restaurants visited:

A.W. Shucks for oysters on the half-shell
California Dreamin for an oyster po-boy
Charleston Crab House for a seafood boil
Virginia’s on King for southern comfort food
Moonpie General Store for the best sweet snack, the Moonpie.

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]]> http://www.jonesing-for.com/2009/07/a-small-selection-of-south-carolina-pictures/feed/ 1 roasted salmon + green beans with olives http://www.jonesing-for.com/2009/07/roasted-salmon-green-beans-with-olives/ http://www.jonesing-for.com/2009/07/roasted-salmon-green-beans-with-olives/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:29:57 +0000 Jessica J. http://www.jonesing-for.com/?p=437 light, fresh summer dinner by you.
Do you ever crave foods you’re not  crazy about?  I normally cannot stand the taste of cooked salmon and the smell makes me borderline nauseous at times, but for some reason, this dish is the exception to the rule.  I think for the most part it’s because the side dish that accompanies it is so fabulous and counterbalances the sweet richness of the salmon so well, I don’t mind.

The combination of green beans, olives, tomatoes and anchovies may sound a bit weird at first, but trust me when I say it’s a perfect balance of sweet and salty.  Roasted at blazing heat for just 10 minutes, the anchovies will melt into salty goodness and the tomatoes will be at that perfect bursting point.

I also adore this recipe because it’s another fav from Jamie Oliver, who is notorious for just throwing things in, using handfuls, simple ingredients, etc.  Thus, there’s only 8 ingredients in this entire meal (if you don’t count salt and pepper) and I added the couscous, so really it’s just 7.   Plus, it’s basically a one-pot (one-pan?) wonder, so what could be easier than that?

green beans by you.
Steamy and seasoned.
olives by you.
Olives.

salmon by you.
Well-seasoned salmon.
fresh and colorful by you.
Christmas colors seem to show up a lot during summer, don’t they?
ready to be roasted by you.
Ready to be roasted.
birds eye salmon by you.
Simple and summery.
light, fresh summer dinner by you.
Fresh, light dinner.

–

Roasted salmon with green beans and olives

Based on Jamie Oliver’s recipe in The Naked Chef.

Serves 4 (I made a full side dish recipe but only cooked two salmon fillets since there were only two of us).

Ingredients

  • 2 large handfuls fresh green beans, stems snapped off
  • 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
  • 1 cup good black olives (the kind from the olive bar, not a can, please!)
  • 10 anchovy fillets, packed in olive oil
  • 4 fresh salmon fillets (preferably wild, not farm-raised), skin-on
  • 1 lemon
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 box instant couscous, any flavor of your choice (I fancy Near East’s Roasted Garlic for this recipe)

Directions

  1. Put your roasting pan in the oven on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 475º F.  Par-cook the green beans by either steaming them (for about 7 minutes) or boiling them in salted water, for about the same time.  You want them to go into the oven with a bit of a snappy bite still, since they’ll roast at such a high temperature.
  2. Prepare the couscous according to box directions.  I often do this at the very beginning, set it aside with the lid on, and it will still be warm by the time we eat.
  3. Meanwhile, rub the salmon with some lemon juice and olive oil.  Season generously and set aside.
  4. Once the green beans are done, toss with the tomatoes, olives, some olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
  5. When the oven is ready, carefully lay the salmon with the skin facing up into one end of the pan.  Fill the other end of the pan with the green bean mixture and spread out evenly.  Lay the anchovy fillets over the green beans and then roast everything for 10 minutes.
  6. After everything is nicely roasted, toss the green bean mixture with tongs to break up the anchovies (they should be melty and dissolving) and squeeze some lemon juice over the salmon.  Taste everything for seasoning.
  7. Serve with warm couscous and a glass of chardonnay or chablis.

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